The King's Magic
Dawn of Chaos: Hell Gate - Chapter 2
Attack on the Palace
The resonant blare of a horn pierced the air over the palace. Danor recognized it immediately. An alarm was being sounded from the battlement. The same alert had sounded months earlier, when Zomoran’s dragon had appeared. Before that, it hadn’t been heard in decades.
A short burst rang out, followed by two more just like it. As they did, more of the winged shadows fell across the mountainside. Whatever they were, they were converging on the north side of the palace.
“’Ware!” the King cried. “Guards, to me!”
He raced through the balcony doors. The guard posted there turned to him in surprise. He had been watching the city below and hadn’t yet noticed the shadows.
“What is it, my liege?” the guard asked, drawing his sword.
“There,” the King replied curtly, pointing. “Coming out of the sun to blind us to their approach.”
The two looked up, squinting against the bright light. A flight of winged creatures was racing toward the palace with terrifying speed. The flight split into two groups as they watched. One group plunged toward the main gate. The other banked directly toward the balcony they were standing on.
The color drained from the guard’s face. “They’re coming right for us!” he blurted.
“What is it?” a voice asked from behind. Aron had sprinted across the room at the sound of his father’s call. His sword, Flamebane, was already in his hand, the bluesteel of its enchanted blade gleaming brightly in the morning sun.
“Winged demons!” the King called out. He turned, pushing the prince and the guard back into the room ahead of him. Then he swung the balcony doors closed and dropped the bar to seal them.
“Everyone, away from the outer walls and windows!” he cried. “The palace is under attack! Retreat to the Great Hall! We mustn’t be cut off!”
By tradition, ten soldiers were arrayed throughout the room to protect the High Council when it was in session. They were the elite of the palace guard, and they obeyed the orders without hesitation. Four of them formed around the King and the prince as screams of panic erupted throughout the conference room.
Two more guards fell in at the Queen’s side. Elena had ignored Danor’s order to retreat and was rushing forward to join him. Lord Rugon and several of the councilors had followed her example, drawing their weapons. The remaining guards arrayed themselves to protect the others as they stampeded toward the exit.
The ceiling near the east wall exploded in a concussion of fire and lightning. Stone sprayed through the air and crushed the refreshment table set near it. The blast knocked the councilors racing for the exit from their feet.
Demons, one after another, flew in through the opening. They flanked the fallen councilors and drove a wedge between them and the royal family. In moments, they had cut the two groups off not only from each other, but from the exit as well.
Another explosion tore the balcony doors off their hinges. Their remains flew into the room in shards of splintered wood. The King and his group were right in the blast’s line, but it didn’t strike any of them. A shimmering barrier of sky blue flared suddenly in the air before them, deflecting the debris and blunting the concussion.
Aron grinned. “Nicely done, Mother,” he said simply.
A massive figure with jet-black skin stood framed in the ruin of the doorway. It wore a harness of red leather straps for armor, and held a great axe in one hand. It slowly furled its enormous wings, and, stooping to accommodate its great height, stepped through the opening and into the room. More demons swarmed in behind the creature as it strode forward, finally coming to a stop before the wall of shimmering blue magic.
It appraised the barrier briefly, and then looked around the room. The felled councilors had staggered to their feet or been dragged into the corner of the chamber. The high priest stood between them and the advancing demons, another wall of magic shimmering in the air before him.
The monster’s gaze returned to the King. He lifted his massive axe.
“I am Incanus Thad,” his voice boomed. “Wielder of Destruction, and Captain of the Horde of Warlord Zomoran, the Black Magus. He rules in Carlissa now. Prepare for death, because your line ends today.”
Danor stared at the enormous demon. His eyes narrowed dangerously.
“So, you and your master think to slay me and my family?” he demanded. “And to so easily conquer the kingdom I have sworn to protect?” He swept an arm around in a gesture of mockery. “You will need more demons than this to make good on such a boast!”
He raised his left hand. A gold ring with a blue gemstone appeared suddenly on its third finger, and began to burn with a bright yellow flame. With a flash, that flame spread to envelop his entire body, like armor, in a sheath of fiery magic.
He gestured to his sword where it lay at the center of the conference table. Guardian leaped from its scabbard. It, too, burned with golden fire as it flew across the room and into his hands. One demon stood in its way; it scythed through the creature’s midsection, cutting it in half.
The King lifted the enchanted blade over his head, and then pointed it at Incanus Thad. His body blazed as though he had become a being of living fire. When he spoke, his voice echoed like a god returning from the Age of Legends.
“And I am Danor Killraven,” he declared. “Descendant of Aldran, and son of Lenard the Archmage. You face the power of my family’s magic, monster. Defend yourself!”
The Queen watched the scene unfold with a determined expression. Everyone else in the room stared at the King in undisguised shock. Danor was renowned as a great warrior — but unlike his father, he had never shown more than a meager skill for wizardry. Clearly, none of them, the demons included, had expected this display of magical power from him.
Incanus Thad bared his fangs and roared at Danor’s challenge. The blue shield parted to either side of him like a curtain as he leaped to attack. His axe, Destruction, fell upon the King’s incandescent form with a powerful stroke that carried the great creature’s full strength behind it.
Danor braced himself, and Guardian swept upward in response. The two weapons met with a deafening ring and a blinding flash of fire and magic. The concussion knocked the demons standing before the King backward, and staggered the Captain of the Horde. His axe flew up, nearly torn from his grasp.
There was a moment of quiet as the two recovered from the violent exchange. Incanus Thad brought Destruction before him in a defensive stance, and the other demons quickly followed his example. Their arrogant bravado now gone, they regarded the King with cautious hostility.
Danor stepped back, seemed to waver for just an instant, and then planted his feet firmly on the ground. Guardian swept around once more to point, flaming, at the Captain of the Horde. The blue shield firmed again. It formed two barriers now, one to either side of the King, protecting those who guarded his flanks.
The moment of quiet stretched on as everyone struggled to grasp what they had just seen. The demons — and indeed, most of their prey — had expected an easy slaughter. The King had just shown them the error of their presumption.
It was Aron who seized the moment and the opportunity it presented. He dropped into a fencer’s stance and, Flamebane’s point extended before him, lunged at the nearest demon. The creature leaped back as the tip penetrated easily through the blue shield. The enchanted blade caught it in the leg and opened a gash that dripped with black ichor.
“For Danor the Defender!” he cried.
His resonant challenge echoed through the room, and the power of his voice roused the hearts of the others. Cries of “Danor the Defender! For King and Carlissa!” rang out in its wake. Emboldened by Aron’s example, they surged to attack.
Danor’s sword spun in an arc of fire, slashing the air around him until it became almost a fiery shield itself. Lord Rugon fell in at his left, and Aron his right. The rest of the guards, and the lords that stood with them, formed a wedge behind him. The Queen stood at their center, protecting them with barriers of magic.
The demons held their ground. Incanus Thad roared, his axe striking again and again at the King, trying to beat him down by sheer force. Wicked steel, claws and demon fire lashed at the defenders, parried by weapon and shield or blunted by Elena’s magic. The blades of the King’s men struck, reaching easily through the protective aura that surrounded them.
And nothing seemed to be able to touch Danor. His immolated form drove relentlessly against the Captain of the Horde, countering his every stroke, his sword moving to block any attempt to close with him and his people.
Aron spared a glance to take in the situation around them. The conference room was spacious with high ceilings, but not so large that it could easily accommodate over two dozen men and as many powerful demons. The monsters were having trouble flanking them. Several attackers turned to threaten the second group of councilors where it was trapped at the far end of the room. The high priest’s own shield of magic was keeping them at bay.
He felt his mother linking his mind with hers, and with the King’s.
Salmanor Hardin is protecting the rest of the council, he thought to them. I think they’re safe, at least for now.
Remarkable, Elena replied. There was a note of surprise in her mental voice. I didn’t think he had it in him.
One of the smaller demons tried to leap on Lord Rugon, claws outstretched. The blue aura before him flared brilliantly and the creature stopped in mid-air, as though it had run headlong into a wall. The lord’s weapon lashed out, slashing the monster across the midsection. A hint of the azure magic lingered on the blade for a moment as it passed through. The creature sprang back with a howl of pain, and a shallow gash across its belly.
How are you holding up? Danor asked, concern edging his thoughts.
Elena’s reply seemed strained. Not well. The demons are powerful, and there are a lot of them. These shields are taking all of my strength. I won’t be able to keep them up for long.
A creature with a spiked flail charged a guard on their flank. The weapon’s head glowed with an eerie black aura, and it passed through the azure ward. The soldier tried to parry the attack, but his sword and arm were shattered by the blow. A quick back-swipe from the glowing weapon crushed his skull.
Aron lunged through the barrier to plunge Flamebane into the demon’s throat. It stumbled away, coughing dark ichor.
They’re starting to counter my defenses! Elena thought in alarm.
We can’t last much longer like this. No one except father and I really seem to be able to hurt them.
Demon hide is resistant to non-magical weapons. Thank the Light Mother gave you that blade of yours!
Stand fast! Danor thought. We have to hold until reinforcements arrive!
A demon hit the King from one side. His fiery armor absorbed the blow, and he turned and struck off the creature’s arm with a swift stroke of his sword. Incanus Thad followed with a killing strike from his axe. Guardian was almost too late in coming around to parry it.
We don’t have time! Elena thought desperately, as another demon tore through her shields. Insectoid mandibles ripped out the throat of a second guard. We need a new strategy!
The blue aura surrounding them vanished as Elena turned to the demon. The guard’s neck was still caught in its jaws, and his head lolled lifelessly from side to side. With a violent twist, the monster hurled the body away and faced her. For the moment, no one stood between them.
Aron spun in panic. “Mother!” he cried.
He stepped out of position at Danor’s flank and ran toward the demon. The move left his rear undefended, and another demon lunged forward to strike at him with a long, scorpion-like tail. Danor pivoted to bring his sword around to defend him, and his stroke sliced through the appendage. It fell, thrashing like a snake, onto the marble floor.
Incanus Thad’s face twisted in a monstrous grin. He backed away, allowing two other demons to take his place in fighting the King.
A sweet, metallic odor assaulted Aron’s nostrils. His hair stood suddenly on end as Elena, body glowing with a nimbus of bright blue, gestured at the monster that was charging her. A bolt of lightning sprang from her outstretched hands. It struck the insect demon in the thorax with a brilliant flash and a deafening concussion. The creature flew backward, slamming into and scattering a group of monsters behind it. The prince’s ears rang from the thunderous report as the Queen spun toward the defenders’ left flank.
Another creature was rearing up before Lord Rugon, preparing to crush him. The councilor stood, braced for the attack, his sword held desperately before him. Elena gestured again, and a vortex of flame formed around the monster. The column of fire enveloped it before it could strike, lifting it into the air and hurling it away.
A shadow fell on the Queen, and she turned to face Incanus Thad. The demon stood before her, wings extended to their full span. He held Destruction before him like a shield.
“Impressive magic, elf-bitch,” he growled. “Let’s see you try it on me.”
Elena gestured. Another bolt of lightning sprang from her outstretched hand, striking the creature’s axe. With a humming and crackling sound, it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Danor turned, seeing his wife’s peril. He tried to move to her side, but the defenders’ line was broken. Without Aron to guard his flank, demons had surged around him to bar his way. He struck out in desperation, but they parried his blows, holding him back. In horror, he realized he would not be able to reach her in time.
Elena’s eyes widened as Incanus Thad drove toward her with a roar of triumph. Her azure shield sprang desperately into form again between them. It caught him in mid-strike, wrapping around him like a net, trying to force him back. He struggled, hacking at the rippling curtain of magic, trying to sever it with his axe.
Aron leaped into the space between them and struck. Flamebane’s tip slashed the creature’s arm. With a bellow of pain and surprising agility, the demon leaped backward and into the air. His wings beat to catch him in flight, and he landed quickly on his feet.
He turned to regard the prince. A smile of long, gleaming fangs broke out on his face.
“Very well,” he mocked. “My master bade me to convey his regards to you in particular, princeling, before I slew you. It’s time I delivered his greeting.”
“Back, monster!” Aron cried, stepping forward. “You will not touch her!”
Attackers were coming at the group from all sides. A blow from a demon fist sent Lord Rugon sprawling a dozen feet across the room to lie crumpled against the west wall. Another of the guards was lifted into the air, screaming, by a demon that seemed to be composed mostly of claws; they tore him in half. Elena spun barely in time, summoning a gout of fire that blasted a demon coming at her from behind. Danor struggled to reach her, slashing at the burning and howling monsters that grappled his incandescent form, trying to drag him down.
Aron circled his foe, his enchanted blade held out cautiously before him. Incanus Thad turned with him. There were no other demons near the pair; the massive form of the Horde Captain, with his wings extended, was blocking their advance. A rivulet of black ichor ran down his arm and onto the hilt of his axe, which glowed as though red with anger.
The pair exchanged blows, testing each other’s defenses. Then the demon struck.
He feinted again with his axe, and then extended his other hand. A blast of fire erupted from his outstretched fingers, engulfing Aron in a blossoming inferno.
Aron held Flamebane before him, blade outward. The sword’s magic flared brilliantly as the torrent of fire reached it. The prince stood firm as the flames parted at the saber’s edge and flowed harmlessly around him. Then he lunged, and the enchanted weapon slipped below the surprised demon’s guard. The point pierced his thigh, opening another wound that flowed with black ichor.
Incanus Thad roared again in pain and anger. He swung his axe down; Aron launched himself into a backward somersault, leaping out of its way. The strike shattered the marble floor where he had stood only moments before. He slashed at the prince again, and then again, Destruction spinning around his body in a red blur.
Aron was renowned throughout the kingdom for his speed and agility as a fighter. Now he was forced to call on all of that skill and finesse. As fast and as powerful as Incanus Thad’s strokes were, he could not score a hit on his prey. In desperation, the prince spun, dodged, and leaped to evade the enraged strikes. Unlike his father, he knew he could not parry a blow from the enormous weapon. A single hit would be his end.
When it came, it looked like just another wild stroke of the demon’s axe. Aron dodged it easily with a spinning leap to the side. One of the demon’s wings dipped as the prince launched himself into his move, sweeping toward where he had committed himself to land.
In a split second of horror, Aron realized his mistake. He tried to twist away from the wing, but it was too late. It slammed into him in mid-air, hurling him back into the path of the descending axe, and the blade passed cleanly through his neck. His severed head flew spinning across the room to land next to where Lord Rugon lay collapsed against the wall.
Incanus Thad threw back his head to roar in triumph — but to his surprise, no sound escaped his lips. Instead, his great body spasmed uncontrollably. His cry of victory was choked off and replaced by a scream of agony.
He wrenched his head around to face the Queen.
Fury and despair raged on Elena’s face as she stared at him. Her eyes were blazing with blue magic. Shining azure tears ran freely down her cheeks.
“Killer!” she shrieked. “Murderer!”
The power in her eyes built until the demons could no longer stand its radiance. All around her, they recoiled from its menacing light. Danor slammed through their startled ranks to come to his wife’s side and raised his sword to guard her. Shock and determination at what had just happened to his son mixed in his incandescent face like an alloy of molten golden metal.
“Die, demon!” Elena cried. “I will have your life, even if it costs me my own! You face the daughter of the Peregrine King, and your soul is forfeit!”
Pain lanced through the monster’s skull as the Queen’s consciousness burned into his mind. Her grief and rage became a weapon of pure thought that tore into his brain like wildfire. He felt her seize his psyche as though it were a physical thing, straining with all her will to tear it apart.
Incanus Thad was the Captain of the Horde of the demon lord Borr. He had the size and strength of a giant, and commanded magic that few beings could match. But through a haze of agony and with the last of his vanishing thought, he knew with cold certainty that he was no match for the Queen’s attack. Elena’s mind was more powerful than any that had ever challenged him, save that of his master itself.
She used that power now to rip the demon’s consciousness apart. She attacked with abandon, heedless of the toll on her own mind and strength. He knew she meant to kill him at all costs. In her despair, she truly did not care if the effort cost her own life as well.
The monster staggered back. Destruction slashed back and forth blindly as he fled, sweeping aside anything that stood in his path. One demon was too slow and found itself parted at the waist. The others leaped wildly out of his way.
He reached the outer wall and began smashing at it with his axe. The vicious blade tore through, shearing away slabs of stone that fell with a thunderous crash down the mountainside below. Then he hurled himself through the opening. His great wings unfurled to beat wildly, carrying him away from the palace.
Elena sagged like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Danor caught her with one arm, holding her limp form firmly against his side. His fiery golden aura spread to envelop her as well, but it had dimmed visibly since the start of the battle. She was exhausted and helpless, and the King had spent most of whatever reserve of power he had drawn on. Now only his waning strength stood against the remaining creatures.
The demons surrounded them. One of their blades slashed cautiously, and Danor staggered as he parried it. He waved Guardian with his free hand, trying futilely to warn them off.
His gaze moved across the council chamber. “Hardin!” he cried. “For the Light’s sake, help us! You’re the only one left!”
Salmanor Hardin stood before the group of councilors at the far end of the room. He had stayed there throughout the battle, maintaining his shield of power to protect them. A few of the demons had tested it with bursts of fire and lightning. Most, however, had concentrated their assault on the royal family and their guards.
The high priest shook his head. “I must defend the council,” he said flatly. His tone was cold and hostile. “The house of Killraven has brought this scourge upon itself. Now it must pay the price.”
Danor suppressed an oath as the demons rushed him. Guardian slashed, more slowly than before, trying desperately to parry their attacks. Bursts of magic washed again and again over the King’s fading aura of fire.
One bear-like demon wrapped an ursine appendage around the King’s sword arm. It grappled him, slowly forcing him toward the floor. Danor went to one knee, trying to turn his weapon back to hack at the creature. With only one arm free, he couldn’t. And if he used his other arm, the Queen would fall from his grasp, defenseless.
Do it, Elena’s voice said weakly in his mind. Do what you can to save yourself, my love. You cannot save us both.
That will not happen, my starlight princess, Danor replied. He clasped her fiercely to his chest. We live or die together. That is how it has always been with us, and it will not change now.
Elena sobbed and rested her head on his shoulder. He watched as the Ursine jaws slowly forced themselves toward his throat, his fiery armor now all but gone.
A flash of silver magic streaked over his shoulder. The demonic fangs abruptly halted their descent. The bear-demon’s head reared back in a ruin of scorched hair and flesh.
With the last of his strength, Danor threw the monster off and staggered backward. More flashes of silver and scarlet magic streaked by him. The fusillade slammed into the attacking demons, driving them, howling, toward the ruined wall of the chamber.
Then soldiers were racing past him on either side. They were fresh, and the points of their spears and the blades of their swords glinted with the characteristic gleam of bluesteel alloy. They surrounded the King and Queen, throwing their armored bodies between them and the demons. Reinforcements had finally arrived, and they had armed themselves with enchanted weapons from the palace arsenal.
Danor turned and stumbled toward the doors to the great hall. They were thrown wide, and a company of soldiers was streaming through them. On one side of the entrance stood the court mage, Palanad Lantar, staff in hand; on the other stood Prince Gerard with his wand. The pair sent bursts of magic flying at the invading monsters with deadly precision. A line of archers beside them fired a hail of bluesteel arrows.
The surviving demons were wounded and spent, while the two wizards and their guards were fresh and well-armed. And the invaders’ leader had been driven in humiliation from the field. As if at a silent command, they turned and fled. They leaped through the breaches in the walls and ceiling, their wings beating back toward the center of the city.
The remnants of the King's fiery armor vanished. He sagged, dazed with exhaustion, the Queen still held in the crook of his arm. Guardian fell from his hand to clatter on the floor. Gerard raced to their side and embraced them fiercely.
“Your Majesties …” a voice said tentatively.
Gerard looked up. Lord Rugon stood unsteadily before them. Blood flowed along one side of his face from a gash on his head. His shirt was wet from another wound in his side.
He carried the severed head of Aron Killraven. Tears streaming down his face, he slowly dropped to his knees, and set it with gentle reverence beside the elder prince’s body.
The King bowed his head. His shoulders shuddered with sobs that he could no longer contain. The Queen began to weep uncontrollably.
Gerard stared in uncomprehending horror at his brother’s lifeless form. The three of them sat on the floor for a long time, tears flowing down their faces as they embraced, their grief finally overtaking them.
Next: Chapter 3 - The Better Part of Valor
Copyright 2017, 2023 by Tony Andarian. All Rights Reserved.